The Charity that has Multinationals Work for Free to Fight Malaria

In 2016, there were 216 million cases of malaria in 91 countries. Of these, 445,000 people worldwide died of the disease. Although the World Health Organisation recognises simple bed-nets are a cheap solution to the problem, insufficient funding means there are still tens of millions of people who are unprotected from the disease.

Against Malaria Foundation

Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) has humble beginnings. Incensed by a 2003 TV program about a two-year old girl suffering from 90% burns, Rob Mather and two friends decided to raise money for her trust fund. Within weeks, they managed to inspire 10,000 other people in 73 countries to swim for the same cause. And 100% of the money raised went to the girl’s trust fund.

Wondering what to do the year after, Mather organised “World Swim Against Malaria”. In this initiative, 250,000 people from 160 countries swam to raise money to combat the disease. Then, not wanting to lose steam, AMF was soon born to buy and distribute protective nets for people at risk of malaria.

How Do they Work?

The charity is able to keep its running costs low thanks to its multinational partners. Including companies like Microsoft, DHL and PwC, they support the charity for free from distributing nets to helping with software updates and covering extra costs.

They’re 100% Transparent

Total transparency is one of AMF’s leading values. They keep reports of all their expenditures on their site. More than this, you can track their donations real time and easily see where the money goes.

More than this, AMF is one of the only charities where you can see 100% of your donations going directly towards the cause. 100% of your money buys nets that cost just $2 each, last 3-4 years and protect an average of two people.

Is it Effective?

It seems so. Studies have shown that anti-malaria nets are the most effective way to prevent the disease from spreading. In fact, if 78% of the population at risk of the condition used these nets properly, it could even be eradicated. AMF itself has had much success. Since 2005, it has raised over $158.7 million. This has been used to give over 70 million anti-malaria nets to people mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Aims

Malaria is the biggest drag on Africa’s economy. Aside from being home to roughly 90% of malaria deaths, those who get sick from the disease are then unable to work for extended periods of time, putting pressure on families, services and the general economy. Given that every $1 million used to fight malaria has been shown to improve African GDP wealth by $12 million, AMF sees their intervention not just as a way to save lives, but also as a way to promote developing economies.

To conclude, AMF combats malaria by providing a transparent platform for people to buy anti-malaria bed-nets to protect those in need. Working with large companies like Microsoft and DHL, they ensure that 100% of donations go towards buying anti-malaria nets and saving lives.

Matibabu is a device that can diagnose malaria infection without drawing blood in under two minutes. Although its accuracy must be increased before it can properly compete with conventional tests, it has the potential to revolutionise the way the disease is handled and diagnosed.

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